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The double-winning league champions of 1998 and 1999, Hungerford, were the main casualties of Southern Electric Premier League’s accreditation process, which found the Berkshire club guilty of the non-provision of colts cricket at their club.At the leagues’ recent Annual General Meeting at the Rose Bowl in Southampton last month, the double winners were demoted, along with Winchester KS, to Division Three for their continued non-compliance of this vital accreditation ruling.They have taken their punishment, but relegated duo Rowledge and Trojans are appealing against their relegations, as they feel they should be allowed to stay in the division. However, it is under the rules of the league that the next two sides from Division Three, namely Gosport Borough and Hursley Park, replace those demoted, should their own accreditation status allow.Hursley Park certainly does, but Gosport Borough’s pitch has been the subject of same debate in the past but it’s improvement over the most recent seasons may allow them to step up with a Silver-Bronze marking.Confirmed though was Hampshire Academy’s position in the ECB Premier Division One with Burridge switching in the other direction. Southsea’s accreditation looks to be sound enough and they will join up alongside South Wilts II, replacing Redlynch & Hale and Hartley Wintney in Division Three.The fixtures for the forthcoming season have been delayed pending the appeal decision, and will appear on the site as soon as they are available.It was the only major bone of contention at an otherwise subdued meeting, but their was bad news of league chairman Alan Bundy, who has been in intensive care for nearly two months since returning with a virus from his holiday in Tenerife.`Bunders’ is making slow progress at present as the doctors keep him under close scrutiny at Southampton General Hospital. The league and all its members wish him well in his swift recovery.

Sri Lanka captain Sanath Jayasuriya has a 50/50 chance of playing in the ICC Champions Trophy after dislocating his shoulder during his side’s 27-run victory against South Africa in the Morocco Cup 2002 final.Jayasuriya fell awkwardly after taking a tumbling catch at mid-on and had to be carried off the field before being transported by ambulance to the local hospital for x-rays.Sri Lanka face Pakistan in the first game of that 12-team tournament starting on September 12, and physio Alex Kontouri will not know the full extent of the injury until after further analysis in Colombo."The bone popped out of his main shoulder joint, but luckily for him it wentback pretty quickly, which saves some of the potential damage that could have been done," said Kontouri."We have to go back to Colombo and do a MRI scan before we will be able fully to assess the injury," he said. "There is no major damage at the moment, but it is a tricky joint so we will have to wait and see.""The worst-case scenario is 12 weeks but hopefully it will be much shorter thanthat," he added. "One thing about him is that he is a quick healer and a gutsy guy, he doesn’t mind playing with pain and if he has half a chance of playing he’ll definitely be there."The good news is that it is his right shoulder so the injury will not affect his throwing or bowling. In the batting department his greatest problem is going to be the horizontal shots like the cut and pull, where he has to elevate his arms."Jayasuriya, although disappointed to have had to watch from the sidelines, was delighted with his side’s performance."It was very unfortunate but I’m glad we achieved our main objective of winning the tournament," he said. "We didn’t get as many runs as we wanted, but we still thought that 235 was a competitive target and the bowlers did really well.”Dav Whatmore was delighted. "I am very pleased to see the way the team responded after the first match,” he said. “There has been a real desire to get out there and compete as well as they can."He reserved special praise for pace bowler Pulasthi Gunaratne: "He improvedwith every game and was confronted with a couple of real pressure situations. For someone who has only played in a handful of games he showed a lot of maturity.Whatmore hopes the win will help Sri Lanka in the ICC Champions Trophy. “Beating Pakistan in our last game was a help and we now have to take our form into that tournament."South Africa captain Shaun Pollock rued the loss of an important toss. "Our best chance of winning the game was to bat first, but we had discussed a strategy for batting second if we lost the toss."We are very disappointed, as we want to win every tournament we participatein. But we didn’t bat very well, losing wickets at vital times and putting ourselves under pressure. But at the end of the day we are looking at the World Cup, which will not be played in similar conditions and we will therefore not be reading too much into this.”Coach Eric Simmons identified South Africa’s batting as the major problemarea. "The batsmen didn’t adapt well to the conditions, making the same mistakes over and again, but there were lots of positives and we can learn from the experience move forward."

BRISBANE, Oct 19 AAP – Rookie quick Damien MacKenzie became Queensland’s unlikely hero against NSW today as the Bulls snatched valuable first-innings points in a tense Pura Cup clash at the Gabba.The match finished in a draw, but that result had been apparent since the third day when the main prize centred on the dogfight for first innings points.MacKenzie, who admitted he “didn’t deserve to bowl” yesterday, broke the back of the Blues with three quick wickets as they were rolled for 443 in reply to Queensland’s 5-507 declared.The Bulls then made the most of batting practice in sapping heat to reach 1-216 in their second innings when the captains agreed to an early finish, with Brendan Nash following his 176 with an unbeaten 81.Jimmy Maher (60) and Martin Love (56 not out) joined in the runs as both teams conserved some energy for tomorrow’s ING Cup one-day match at the Gabba.The day promised more for the Blues and they looked likely to take some rare points from Brisbane when they crept to 5-405 on a morning with temperatures soaring past 30 degrees.But MacKenzie (3-98), who wasn’t bowled during yesterday’s final session because of a wayward spell, claimed the wickets of Brad Haddin (23), captain Simon Katich (43) and Stuart MacGill (zero) in 19 balls to leave the Blues in deep trouble.The 22-year-old enticed Haddin into a careless catch to Andrew Symonds at deep point before Katich, who thumped consecutive boundaries off MacKenzie, chipped a slower ball to Maher at short cover.When MacGill was trapped LBW with the very next ball, NSW was gone and MacKenzie had redeemed himself despite conceding 48 runs from his seven overs today.”It’s been a mixed two days for me and I probably didn’t deserve to bowl yesterday after the way they came out,” MacKenzie said.”But I just tried to relax today and the ball was starting to go a bit Irish (reverse swing) and I was starting to get it fairly straight.”MacKenzie’s breakthroughs were the first real triumphs for the bowlers in a match dominated by the batsmen, including Nash, Lee Carseldine (124 not out) and NSW pair Matthew Phelps (147) and Michael Clarke (134).Phelps’ innings ran over three days before finally coming to a halt early today when he provided a regulation edge to wicketkeeper Wade Seccombe from the bowling of impressive quick Ashley Noffke (2-90 from 39 overs).Haddin then ignited the slow tempo with 23 from 26 balls, including five boundaries, before he went for one aggressive shot too many.While Queensland reflected on a tough but satisfying start to its chase for a fourth consecutive Pura Cup crown, the Blues would also be happy with some of the positive points to emerge from the match.They had been easybeats in some previous visits to the Gabba but the likes of Phelps and Clarke showed encouraging fight under new captain Simon Katich, who endured a trying time in the field against the Bulls batsmen.NSW quick Doug Bollinger (0-96 and 0-55) deserved a wicket during an encouraging debut, bowling Nash today with a no ball.The diminutive Queenslander had scored just eight when Bollinger took his off bail, only to watch the ball race to the boundary.

The first day’s play in the three-day tour match between MCC and Sri Lanka has been washed out by steady rain. The match, now reduced to two days, will start on Friday.The wash-out is just the latest of numerous disruptions that Sri Lanka have had to endure during preparations before and in between the three Test matches. The game against MCC is their last before the third and final Test, which starts at Old Trafford next Thursday.MCC have picked what is effectively an England hopefuls team, which was nominated by the national selectors. Five members of the MCC side have already played for England, while another three were members of the ECB Academy squad in Australia last winter.

Any doubt to the ability or character of Jacques Rudolph was laid to rest this weekend when playing in the Transco Lancashire League the 21 year old Northern Titans opener set a new club record for Lowerhouse with his third century in as many matches.Following the selection debacle in Australia many thought that Rudolph’s confidence had been shattered. With the start of the English season it appeared to be true, but hard work and hours of practice has paid off. A 154 not out on Saturday and a 115 on Sunday followed his 149 not out the previous weekend.Pierre Joubert is back in the runs after a 69 and a 102 not out over the weekend. He also took 1/17 and 2/31 with the ball.Martin van Jaarsveld with a 45 failed on Sunday with a duck, but made up for it bowling his team to victory with 5/24 after 1/74 on the Saturday.Con de Lange improved with the bat scoring 45 and 11 and took 2/84 and 4/37 with the ball.Andrew Hall continues his form with a 77 not out and a 27 and taking 2/18 and 0/17.Paul Adams only playing once over the weekend was once again in the wickets with 4/87 but only managed one off the bat.Andre Seymore could not take any wickets and scored 37 and 12.Goolam Bodi making a late start in the league could not get a run but took 3/91.During this weeks County Championship matches low scores seemed to be the order of the day for the South Africans.A pair for Andrew Gait in a loss for Derbyshire against Durham.Two innings of one run each for Mark Davis in a Sussex draw against Kent. Davis took 2/40 and 0/3 with the ball.Nottinghamshire registered a win against Glamorgan with Nicky Boje scoring a duck and a two not out. Greg Smith managed 14 not out and Kevin Pietersen 31. Boje only bowled one over in the match while Smith returned figures of 0/28 and 1/50. Pietersen did not bowl.Sven Koenig on the winning side for Middlesex against Gloucestershire scored 59 and 38.Leicestershire and Hampshire drew with Neil Johnson scoring four and 25 but unable to get a wicket. It was left to Nic Pothas with a 63 to flutter the home flag. He however followed the half century up with a duck in the second innings.The weekends Norwich Union matches showed a slight improvement for the South Africans but for some a weekend to forget.Gait made his third duck of the weekend in another loss for Derby against Lancashire.Warwickshire went down to Leicestershire with Shaun Pollock getting out for a duck and Neil Carter for two. Pollock took 1/34 and Carter 1/35.Davis did not bat and took 2/24 as Sussex beat Northamptonshire.Sven Koenig failed, scoring four, as Gloucestershire turned the tables on Middlesex.Boje 39 and 1/31, Smith 4 and 0/44 and Pietersen 36 were on the losing side as Glamorgan beat Nottinghamshire.Neil Johnson, with a 83 and no wickets, and Nic Pothas one not out also had to be content with a loss for Hampshire against Essex.

A month ago, the name Raymond Price did nothing much for the cricket fan in India. But today, after the Test series with the Zimbabweans, the name comes with a huge PRICE tag. The only specialist spin bowler who was part of the touring Zimbabwean side, he had a huge responsibility on his shoulders, for it is a well-known fact that both the Nagpur and the Delhi pitches favoured spin, for the sheer nature of the wicket is such that favours turn.In the First Test, Price made a mark as he was the only bowler to give the Indian batsmen problems. He claimed a five-for and made a statement that he was not a bowler to be taken lightly. It is another matter that Zimbabwe lost the Test match, but for Raymond Price, the Nagpur Test was one he can keep recorded in his mind.The Second Test at New Delhi had a track that was crumbling from day one. A promising track for spinners, and Price could look forward to getting turn on the pitch. In both innings, he captured five wickets, but what was most satisfying for Raymond was the fact that he got the little master Tendulkar out in both the innings and also in the First Test. So, in effect, Tendulkar had become Price’s bunny!"It was like a lifetime dream really, just to be able to bowl to Sachin, leave alone trying to get him out. You sit and watch a lot of the guys who come here from all over the world, and they struggle, like say Shane Warne, and that is because the Indians play spin so well. They are good with their hands and they wait for the ball so well. For me, I just wanted to do the best I could and work hard, and do the best I could for the team, hoping that I would be able to leave India pleased with my performance. Not so much about taking wickets – obviously taking wickets is good – it’s more the effort that you put in."The Indian experience is one that Raymond Price will take back with him and treasure over the years. Not only did he perform well; he was just overwhelmed with all the attention received."I really enjoyed India. Cricket here is such a passion, as compared to home where soccer is the biggest passion, but here cricket it is unbelievable, they treat you so well. It is fantastic to come here and I have really enjoyed it. Obviously I have learnt a lot, and have enjoyed playing cricket on these pitches because they turn quite a bit and they are really helpful to me."Visiting a country that favours spin, Price was the only specialist spinner in the side. Bowling is also all about partnerships and he was missing a spin twin. Even though the seamers supported him well, having another specialist spinner in the side would have helped."Brian Murphy is there, but he has injured himself. He and I are really good friends, and I would love to play a Test with him, joke with him, enjoy ourselves a little bit. But our seamers I felt did a good job here, on wickets that don’t help them. My team-mates did a fine job. Yes, it would have helped to have another spinner, especially on the last day when the wicket was really turning."All in all, the Test series did not go in favour of the Zimbabweans, at least not on paper. But they showed a lot of character in the Second Test, proving that they are not a pushover team by any stretch of imagination. They are fighters and will give the opposition a tough fight. In the end, the result showed two-nil in favour of India but it could very well have been one-all. But that is cricket; things do not always go the way they should."Obviously I was really sad to lose because you always want to win. But we played competitively, which is always good for the game and the spectators. And people back at home know that we played hard and we came close to winning in the Second Test. It is sad that we lost; we should have squared the series one-all, but life does not always go your way, and hopefully the next time we are in that position we will win."At the age of 25, Price has a long way to go and the road ahead is winding and long, but with a clear-cut plan in place, there can only be a positive outcome. The feeling that one gets when one is part of the playing eleven is one that is often taken for granted, but one that people like Price hold close to the heart."I’d like to play cricket for Zimbabwe for as long as I can. It has been my dream to play cricket for a living, to be able to play for your national side. I would like to play till I can hold my place in the national side. You do have family commitments, but I would like to play on; I just love it. Just hope that the game carries on being good to me as it has done so far."Much to the amazement of a lot of cricket lovers in India, Price was sent back home after the Test series. Apparently he is not considered to be a one-day player. Obviously disappointed, but not in a negative frame of mind, Raymond Price knows that there will be a time for him and a place in the shorter version of the game. For now he would have to leave the stage for he has played his part in Test cricket very well indeed. An encore performance, without a doubt, I am sure a few Indian batsmen would agree."The selectors have their reasons for not having me for the one-day side. There are a few areas of my game that are not strong enough to vie for a one-day spot as yet. My fielding is not 100% yet, and it is not where it should be either. There are a couple of things I need to work on once I get back, before I play one-day cricket. I would have loved to have played in the one-day series, but I have to wait for my chance and make sure that I am ready for it. Hopefully I will grab it with both hands and carry on playing for a long time. I hope that our team does really well; it will be good for us, and the people back home, and for cricket as a whole."With a firm shake of the hand, he left to pack up his bags and get ready to leave on that jet plane that was heading home, taking back with him a bag full of cricketing memories that was the `Indian experience’.

Former England fast bowler Frank Tyson said in Mumbai on Friday that the cricketing potential in India was immense and he was happy to come back on a 15-day coaching assignement to help Mumbai fast bowlers and coaches.Speaking to PTI, Tyson, who was instrumental in helping former Indian bowlers like Abey Kuruvilla, Paras Mhambrey and Sairaj Bahutule under the MCA-Mafatlal Bowling Scheme in 1991, said he would concentrate on fast bowlers as there was very good talent in the country and the important thing was to tap it properly.”I will focus mainly on the bowlers apart from spending about 15 hours with the Indian coaches. What I will be doing is to teach them (coaches) how to coach the ten best shots, different types of bowling and so on”, he added. After his stint here, Tyson, who is 71, will leave for Pune to help the trainees at the Maharashtra Cricket Academy (MCA).

England international cricketer Ben Hollioake has been killed in a car accident in Perth overnight.The English camp playing in the second Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve had just resumed their first innings when news first came through and it has shocked the side.England’s team management will request that the England flag at the Basin Reserve be lowered to half-mast at lunch-time today and both teams will observe a minute’s silence before play tomorrow morning in tribute to Hollioake.New Zealand Cricket chief executive Martin Snedden said: “On behalf of NZC I would like extend our deepest sympathy to the family, friends and team-mates of Ben Hollioake following his tragic death this morning.”As well as being a talented cricketer, from all accounts Ben was a much loved member of the England squad whose contribution in all areas will be sorely missled.”Our thoughts and prayers go out to Ben’s family and friends at this very sad time.”According to reports, Hollioake was driving a Porsche which crashed on Mill Point Road in South Perth. The car spun out of control and hit a brick wall just after the Kwinana off ramp.A 22-year-old woman was also in the car and received head and chest injuries.West Australia police inspector Greg Medhurst said Hollioake had died at the scene of the accident while the female passenger was taken to Royal Perth Hospital.Another police spokesman, Constable Raphael Perez said Hollioake’s Porsche failed to negotiate a bend and hit a pylon which rolled the vehicle.He confirmed members of Hollioake’s family were following his vehicle and were on the scene immediately. He was identified straight away and the family were now receiving counselling and treatment for shock.Hollioake, who played for Surrey, had a 75-match first-class career and was a member of the England one-day squad which was recently beaten 3-2 in New Zealand but he did not play in the series due to a knee injury.He left the side at the end of the series when England embarked on the Test programme.Hollioake, born in Melbourne on November 11, 1977, made his Test debut in 1997 for England in the same game as his older brother Adam, in the fifth Test against Australia at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. It was the only occasion in the 20th Century that brothers made their Test debuts together.At 19 years, Hollioake was the youngest player to represent England since Brian Close in 1949.He only played two Tests and was regarded as more of a one-day specialist. He made his One-Day International debut in 1997 scoring 63 at Lord’s against Australia in the third match of the series.He was named the Young Cricketer of the Year by the Cricket Writers’ Club that season.In 20 ODIs he scored 309 runs at 20.60 and scored two 50s. His first game 63 remained his highest score.He played sparingly until last summer when he was recalled to the side for the triangular tournament against Pakistan and Australia, scoring 37 not out against Australia at Bristol and shared a 70-run stand with Owais Shah in 7.2 overs against Pakistan at Headingley.That saw him included in the squad selected to tour Zimbabwe, India and New Zealand as part of England’s build-up to next year’s World Cup.In his first-class career he scored 2794 runs at 25.87 and took 126 wickets at 33.45.

ScorecardDelhi’s star batsmen could not build big innings•AFP

On a gloomy, hazy day in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh (UP) came out beaming. Heavyweights Delhi were dismissed for 235 and UP ended the first day of their Ranji Trophy group match at 40 for 1.Despite the grim skies and the absence of sunshine, the fall of eleven wickets – including those of the star bats, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli – meant that the atmosphere remained festive at the Nehru Stadium, with close to 8000 voluble spectators behind home-team UP.UP’s decision to bowl first worked out; they got rid of Delhi’s top four, Gambhir, Sehwag, Unmukt Chand and Kohli, before lunch and it was only an 86-run partnership between Mithun Manhas and Puneet Bisht for the fifth wicket that had the total inch towards 200.An incisive spell of quick bowling by right-arm pacer Imtiaz Ahmed late in the second session got rid of both Bisht and Manhas, before Praveen Kumar stepped in to wipe out the tail. At 52, Bisht was the top scorer for Delhi, who lost their last six wickets for 43 runs in 11.1 overs. Imtiaz ended the day with the best bowling figures of his career, 5 for 59 being his first five-for in first-class cricket.For Delhi, the dismissal of their heavyweight batting-line up inside 66 overs is a cause for worry. Looking at the bigger picture, Delhi’s big names represent half of the Indian top six that will take on England two weeks from now. To have them all gone inside the first session, with a top score of 32 among them, with less than 100 on the board could, if you are the nervous type, become a portent of impending doom.To the more rational, this is only a domestic season opener on a sprightly pitch. Most batsmen looking for confidence and touch at the start of a season would turn away from the Nehru Stadium’s track. It had a sprinkling of grass, modest bounce by Indian standards, generous carry, and did not allow Delhi’s strokemakers to time the ball as much as they would have liked.Sehwag and Gambhir opened Delhi’s batting with circumspection, in response to Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s tight and teasing length. UP’s bowling will not blow teams off the park but in conditions of this kind, they nibble and nick.Only in the eighth over of the morning, Sehwag hit successive boundaries off Bhuvneshwar. Gambhir had resisted Praveen’s questions asked round about his off stump, playing straight without any limited-overs dabs. The ball was wobbling a little in the heavy haze that settles everywhere during north India’s winter. On a pitch like this, batsmen couldn’t get ‘in’; they had to stick around and look for scoring opportunities. Without patience or application, all they could actually do was get out.In the 10th over, Sehwag, on 14, flashed at one from Bhuvneshwar and was dropped by Raina at second slip. Typically, in the over that followed he hit a crackling back-foot punch off Praveen. But in these conditions, every bowler knew he had every chance of striking. Sehwag’s boundary to long-on off Praveen in the next over was followed by an edge through to the keeper; the first big wicket had fallen less than an hour into play.Gambhir looked secure and focused and, until his dismissal, had left balls alone as wisely as he had played them. He had survived Praveen’s early interrogation and had been careful in his replies. Early on in Imtiaz’s first spell, however, he shouldered arms and was declared leg before. The ball had kept low on a few occasions from that end and Gambhir was unhappy.Of the three India batsmen in the line-up it was Gambhir who had seemed good enough to go on to score more than his 32. Kohli sparkled briefly, before pushing at Bhuvneshwar, the edge flying through to Kaif at second slip. With that, before Delhi could blink, the score was 98 for 3; the Manhas-Bisht partnership was typical Ranji rearguard, but Delhi came apart when Imtiaz changed ends and came in for his third spell.Burlier than the two Kumars, Imtiaz bowls at a far quicker clip and the movement he found in the air and off the track helped him break up Delhi’s best partnership. Manhas fell slashing, Bisht to an excellent tumbling catch by Raina, who also held on to the edge from Sangwan. Praveen Kumar then stepped in and clinically cleaned out the remaining batsmen.